An Iranian court has summoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over supposed privacy violations — while lawyers say he will not respond to the summons, this is the latest in a long line of government attempts to restrict online freedom, TF’s Berin Szoka told TechNewsWorld:

“This isn’t the first time governments have claimed they’re ‘protecting users’ privacy’ when they’re actually trying to crack down on websites they don’t like – and it won’t be the last,” Berin Szoka, president of the TechFreedom think tank, told TechNewsWorld.

An Italian court in 2012 convicted three Google executives in absentia for violating Italian privacy laws, claiming that sites like Google Videos or YouTube must screen the massive volume of user content that they carry, he pointed out.

“That would, of course, cripple most social networking sites,” Szoka noted, “but to the Iranian government, breaking social network sites indirectly while claiming you’re protecting privacy is just a great way to rebrand censorship in the guise of human rights.”

Tech Freedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology think tank launched in 2011. TechFreedom is excited about the future. Focusing on issues of Internet freedom and technological progress, we work to protect innovation and discovery from powers that fear change. Technology is the great driver of social progress and human well-being, and we aim to keep it that way.